Device for breaking bottles



A ril 12,1938. J. MORENG DEVICE FOR BREAKING BOTTLES Filed April 2, 1936'IIIII 11E llll 1&5; iii a o j xiv.

INVENTOR ATTORNE Patented Apr. 12, 1938 UNITED STATES Aer oesi 2 Claims.

In a number of States there are laws which require bartenders todestroy, by partially or wholly breaking, bottles which have containedliquors such as whiskey and gin, as soon as the 5 last of the contentsof the bottle has been consumed. Where no machine is available forbreaking the bottles the operation is an annoying one and it is alsodangerous because of the danger of flying glass injuring the bartenderand of the danger of his being cut during the breaking operation andwhile handling the broken bottle afterwards. Furthermore, in the courseof a day there is apt to be a considerable accumulation of brokenbottles around the bar, which is objectionable.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a very simple apparatus forbreaking enough of the neck of the bottle away to comply with the laws.Ihe apparatus includes an anvil member 90 which is received inside theneck of the bottle and of a member outside the bottle neck whichco-operates with the anvil to fracture and remove a portion of the neckof the bottle sufficient to comply with the laws referred to. Thisexterior member may be operated by hand, preferably through a crankdevice for applying the required pressure to fracture the neck of thebottle.

The operation may be performed very rapidly and because only a portionof the neck of the bottle need be broken away, there is an accumulationof relatively small quantities of broken glass.

In addition to the fracturing means I have as shown in the drawing anenclosing housing for enclosing a neck of a bottle, and the fracturingmeans to prevent scattering of the fractured glass, so that during thefracturing operation,

and even after it, the bartender is not subjected ill to any liabilityof injury to his person.

In the fullest embodiment of my invention the housing is provided with asliding plate having an aperture to receive the neck of the bottle therethrough, the shoulder of the bottle being adapted to rest against theplate to form a complete enclosure, and this plate is movable againstthe resistance of restoring springs in order that the plate may be movedby the shoulder of the bottle, 50 in order that the neck of the bottlemay be applied to the anvil, and in order that bottles having differentlength necks may all be accommodated.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fracturing device whichwill operate on all types of bottle necks and regardless of any surfacepro-' trusions such as flanges.

In the drawing forming part of this application,

Figure l is a sectional view taken on the line i--l of Figure 2, showingmy invention,

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a bottle breaker embodying myinvention,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-43 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-45 of Figure 3 showingthe bottle neck in position to be fractured,

Figure 5 is a similar view but showing the plunger driven into theposition where the bottle is fractured, and e Figure 6 is a perspectiveview of the plunger and its operating means and the anvil, detached fromthe remainder of the device.

I prefer to enclose the bottle breaking means within a housing whichwill receive the neck of the bottle therein and which will prevent thebroken glass from scattering during the breaking operation, in order toavoid injury to the operator and to avoid scattering of the glass whereit 2 might injure persons coming in contact with it. The housing shownherein may be conveniently bolted to the under side of a bar or it maybe mounted independently on a pedestal or otherwise secured inconvenient position but in the drawing I have shown the housing boltedand screwed to the under side of a bar.

In the drawing I have indicated a counter or bar at i and the housingsecured thereto preferably by screws 2 passing through the top wall 3 ofthe housing and entering the under side of the bar. The housing, whichis preferably made of metal and which may be in various forms, is shownherein as consisting in part of the top plate 3 which is secured againstthe under side of the bar as just described. The housing also includesside walls 4 which may be made integral with the top wall and at thebottom, of the side Walls I have shown inwardly extending bottom walls 5which have their lower edges turned or bent as shown at 6 and there is asliding cover I for closing the opening through the bottom walls, thiscover having its opposite edges turned as shown at 8 to interlock withthe turned edges 6 of the bottom walls so that the cover may be slidback to dump the accumulation of broken glass. I have shown the backwall 9 of the housing as made of thicker material, and preferably thisis a casting on which the working parts of the bottle breaking deviceare mounted.

There is a boss l8 extending from the back wall 9 and through this bossextends a rod II which is shown as having an enlarged portion 12 forminga shoulder 53 resting against the inner surface of the wall 3 where itis tightly held by means of the screw M threaded into the end of the rodmember H and acting with the washer IE to draw the member ii to theright in Figure 3 and thus hold the shoulder l3 tightly pressed againstthe inner surface of the wall 9.

The enlarged portion i2 forms an anvil adapted to be received within theneck of the bottle as hereinafter described and I preferably mount ahardened stud It in a recess in the member l2, this stud having an edgeI! running horizontally or parallel with the axis of the member 12 toserve as a sharp anvil to engage the inner surface of the bore I8 of thebottle l9 presented for breaking. There is a fracturing memher whichlies outside the neck of the bottle and presses it against the anvil toco-operate therewith in fracturing the neck of the bottle. This outermember is shown as a sliding plunger 28 which is guided to movevertically within a bracket 2! which is attached to the wall 9 thechannel within this bracket forming in compelation with the adjacentportion of the wall 9, a raceway to confine the plunger to a slidingmovement at right angles or toward and from the fracturing edge I! ofthe anvil.

Preferably, the end of the plunger which engages the neck of the bottleis arched as shown at 22 in Figures 4 and 5 in order that it will comeinto contact in most cases with the neck of the bottle at the edges 23or on planes on opposite sides of the plane of the edge ll so that theaction of the plunger and the anvil will cause a fracturing of the glassmore readily than if the plunger were in contact with the glass oppositethe anvil. This will cause these parts to operate with a minimum offorce applied to the operating lever.

Various means may be provided for reciprocating the plunger to fracturethe bottle neck but in the drawing I have shown simple means consistingof the following: There is a projecting portion or boss 24 shown as castintegral with the wall 9 and this projection forms part of the bearingfor a laterally extending shaft 25 which extends through the projectionand which has a collar or nut 26 on one end to prevent the shaft fromshifting in one direction; and on the other end there is secured the hub27 which carries a bent lever arm 28 the forward end of which forms ahandle to be grasped by the operator. I have shown a cap 29 boltedagainst the projection 24 and having a curved groove 38 extending alongthe same to receive a portion of the shaft 25 therein; and this cap incooperation with the projection 24 completes the bearing for the shaft.On this shaft there is a crank arm 3! having a rounded end 32 whichextends into a recess 33 in the plunger and this crank arm is adapted tocause the movement of the plunger toward and from the anvil.

I have shown the metal forming the walls of the housing bent over at thecorners as shown at 34 to provide laterally extending brackets at thefront side of the device. I have shown four posts 35 extending throughapertures in these corner extensions with the heads 35 of the boltsresting against the outer surfaces of the brackets and the inner ends ofthese posts are attached to the back wall 9 as by the threads 31 or anyother means.

What I prefer to call the front side of the hous ing is adapted to beclosed by a plate 38 which has apertures near its four corners andthrough which apertures the several posts 35 pass; and this plate isadapted to move along the posts toward and from the back wall.

I have shown a coiled spring 39 surrounding each post and. lying betweenthe brackets 34 and the outer side of the plate 38 one end of eachspring being attached to one of the brackets and the other end of eachspring being attached to the plate 38 so that when the plate is movedfrom left to right in Figure 3 the movement will be resisted by thecoiled springs and when pressure is removed from the plate the springswill move the plate to the left to the full line position shown inFigure 3.

The plate 38 is shown as provided with a centrally located aperture 40which is of sufficient diameter to permit the neck of the bottle to beinserted therein but still small enough for the shoulder M of the bottleto engage the plate and move it toward the right in Figure 3. I estimatethat if this aperture is about 3 inches in diameter it will beappropriate for all bottles which contain spirits or liquors, although Ido not wish to confine my invention to any particular proportions.

In order to form a guide for the neck of thebottle I provide a guidingrod 42 in alignment with the anvil and I have shown this as acontinuation of the anvil and extending out from the back wall asufficient distance so that its free end passes slightly through theaperture 40 of the plate 38.

The operation of the device is as follows: Before a bottle is insertedfor breakage the plate 38 will be about at the full line or left handposition shown in Figure 3 and in the dotted line position shown inFigure 1 which is its furthest position from the back wall whichsupports the anvil. When a bottle has been emptied of its contents thebottle is presented to the device so that the neck passes through theopening 48 of the plate 38 and the guiding member 42 is received into .i

the bore of the neck of the bottle.

The bottle is then pressed towards the rear wall 9 and at some point inits movement the shoulder 4| of the bottle will engage the outer side ofthe plate 38, and from then on the movement of the bottle will causethis plate to move from left to right in Figure 3. The bottle will bepushed back until the end of the neck rests against the back wall 9 andwhen this occurs the anvil and its breaking member I 6 will be receivedinto the open end of the neck of the bottle as shown in Figure 3.

The bottle having thus been positioned, the operator will press down onthe lever arm 28 so that the lever arm rocks the shaft 25 and this willcause the crank arm 3| to move the plunger 28 downwardly in Figure 3 andas it does so the edges 23 will first come into contact with the outersurface of the neck of the bottle and as pressure is exerted on thelever arm 28 the action of the end of the plunger in co-operation withthe fracturing member IS on the anvil will cause the single thickness ofglass lying between the plunger and anvil to be fractured more or lessin the manner shown in Figure 5. That is to say, a piece of the neck ofthe bottle will be broken away leaving the neck of the bottle imperfect.This is suficient to render the bottle imperfect and it is sufficient tocomply with the laws of the different States requiring breakage of thebottles after the contents have been dispensed.

Thus the bottle as a whole is not broken up so that the free glasscreated by the operation is 'small in quantity and it will fall to thebottom of the housing where it will accumulate in the chamber 35. Thischamber may be emptied after a number of bottles have been broken bysimply sliding over the bottom cover l and al lowing the broken glass tofall into a receptacle of any kind. The bottle, after being broken inthe manner described herein, is not dangerous to handle, so that indispensing the bottles the attendant is not apt to injure the hands.

As soon as the fracturing operation has been completed, the bottle maybe withdrawn from right to left in Figure 3, and disposed of in anydesired manner.

The purpose of the sliding plate 38 is to complete the enclosure by thehousing so that no part of the glass which is broken from the bottlewill fly from the housing. This plate is made movable so that it willremain in contact with the shoulder of the bottle and leave no openingfor the glass to scatter. It also serves to co operate with theshoulders of different bottles having necks of different lengths. Wherethe neck of the bottle is short the plate 38 will be moved much furtherto the right in Figure 3, whereas when the neck of the bottle is long,shown in the drawing, the plate is moved only a slight distance. It anycase, therefore, this movable plate will form a closing wall on one sideof the housing to prevent the escape of the breaking glass.

The more important feature of my invention resides in the co-operationof an anvil member which is received within the neck of the bottle andthe fracturing member disposed outside the neck of the bottle andco-operating with the an vil to break the portion of the neck lyingbetween these two members. It requires much less force for these twomembers to fracture the intervening glass than would be required tofracture the glass by members lying entirely exterior of the neck of thebottle. It is preferable to have the anvil and the plunger contact withthe neck of the bottle on three lines of contact, as illustrated inFigures 4 and 5 in order to apply the breaking force in a manner whichwill fracture the intervening glass with a minimum of power applied.

The present device is adapted to operate on various types of bottles. Inall cases the bottle neck has a bore into which the anvil may bereceived.

The external plunger is withdrawn from the anvil a sufficient distanceto receive any type of bottle neck between the anvil and the plunger.The present device will operate on bottle necks having screw threads orflanges of different kinds so that the device is of universal use.

Having described my invention, What I claim 1. A bottle breaking machineincluding a housing, an anvil member adapted to be received into thebore of-a bottle neck presented thereto, a member exterior of the bottleneck and cooperating with said anvil to fracture the intervening glassof the bottle neck, one wall of said housing being movably mounted forlateral movement toward and from said anvil member, resilient meanstending to move said movable wall away from said anvil, said movablewall having an aperture of sufficient size to receive the neck of abottle therethrough for presentation of the bottle neck over said'anvil, said aperture being so proportioned that the shoulder of thebottle will engage said movable wall and move said movable wall untilthe outer end of the bottle neck is presented over said anvil.

2. A bottle breaking machine including a housing, an anvil memberadapted to be received into the bore of a bottle neck presented thereto,a member exterior of the bottle neck and cooperating with said anvil tofracture the intervening glass of the bottle neck, one wall of saidhousing being movably mounted for lateral movement toward and from saidanvil member, resilient means tending to move said movable wall awayfrom said anvil, said movable wall having an aperture of sufiicient sizeto receive the neck of a bottle therethrough for presentation of thebottle neck over said anvil, said aperture being so proportioned thatthe shoulder of the bottle will engage said movable wall and move saidmovable wall until the outer end of the bottle neck is presented oversaid anvil, and a guiding member extending from said anvil andreceivable within the neck of the bottle for guiding the neck over saidanvil.

JOSEPH MORENG.

